Originally Posted by
bigfred
Our Saturday morning "B" ride historically averages a true 15.5-17.5 mph over reasonably hilly terrain (not counting stoppage time). Subsequently it's not unheard of to maintain 21-24mph along reasonably long stretches of flat road.
Give it ago again next week. But, this time, ride it smarter. No chasing after the fast guys. Attempt to maintain the second or third wheel position. Don't volunteer to go to the front and pull, unless people naturally rotate off the front of you. In which case, take a pull, but, keep it reasonably short. Don't linger at the back. The gaps and excellerations are exagerated back there.
I learned a lot of valuable lessons that day, and getting whiplashed off the back end of the paceline was one of them. I had just sprinted to catch the tail end of the fast guys when they turned a corner and I had to do another hard short sprint to get back on the wheel. Next week I will ride it much smarter - take it a bit easier on my 11 miles out to the ride, and no chasing the fast guys. The hard extended sprint I had to do to catch the breakaway right off the beginning of the ride is what killed me. I had to really crank (for me) at 26-27 mph for nearly half a mile to catch them. It turned out to be a valuable race lesson as well. If I had worked with somebody and we had alternated taking pulls I could have caught the group with much less effort and would have been able to maintain the pace much longer. Thanks for all the good advice and having a bit of patience while I got that off my chest.
I do a bit of cyclocross right now but I want to start racing crits next year, and the fast road rides are just what I need to discover where I need improvement and hone my peloton skills. I really underestimated how important strategy could be even for a group ride. Lord knows I would have gotten dropped off a real race within 4-5 laps. I also learned how much I need to work on my ability to do short, steep hills.
A lot of the rides I go on I am one of the guys riding off the front, and we usually get spooled up to 19-20 and that has never been too difficult for 20-30 miles (still having conversations). Silly me thinking I could full sprint and then settle into a 22-23 mph paceline for 20 miles. But now I have something new to work for.
BTW, I did some asking around, and it turns out the "fast guys" are all on a race team sponsored by Cannondale and two local shops, race Cat 3 and above, and have 3000-6000 miles per person on the road this year. So I felt a little better that I couldn't keep up. I used to ride BMX and MTB, and I've been commuting regularly for years now, but this is my first year getting serious about road and I have a whopping 350 miles under my belt. Whoops.